Pokemorph: The First Adventure
by flare77
Summary: Maria, after being turned into a Buneary sets off to find a permanent cure. But on the way, something that didn't go with the plan happened. What will she do now? But fate intended that this curious thing would actually help her...
1. Pokemorph

What a perfect day! What an absolutely fabu –

"Maria!"

Or… maybe not.

I turned around from my carefree strolling through a large clearing in the middle of the woods. Small, pink flowers dotted the ground in front of me.

"MARIA!"

I stopped in mid turn. A thoughtful expression drifted across my face. I knew that voice. It was my dad. Right, what did I do this time. Well I did send Chimchar to have a look at his prized paintings while I go and take a nice long walk – oh yeah! Oops. I forgot that dad didn't exactly _like_ Chimchar snooping around. I sighed.

"Yes, dad?"

My dad was a cheerful man (usually) but right now his mouth was turned down at the corners in a fairly obvious look of disapproval. He was holding my sweet little Chimchar by the scruff of its neck.

"Chim."

Chimchar waved at me, a guilty expression on his face. My eyes flickered from Chimchar's face to my dads. My father's face was strangely twisted. His mouth was slowly curling up in a bizarre grin. Finally, he burst out laughing. I stared at him, dumbfounded. In all the confusion, Chimchar hopped out of my dad's grasp and ran to me.

"Chimchar!" It said as it settled comfortably back in its old place, by my shoulder.

I nodded to Chimchar then turned my attention back to my dad. He was now gasping, clutching his stomach, trying desperately to force back the giggles that threatened to overwhelm him. Finally, he brought himself under control.

"Maria, your Chimchar –

He stopped in mid sentence as another racking round of laughter took hold. Chimchar and I watched, bemused as he laughed and hiccupped. When he stopped, I felt it safe to ask him a question.

"So, what was Chimchar doing? And why is it so funny?"

My dad put on a stern face and replied, "At about 10 in the morning, a scream was heard from the house next door – you know, my rival's home. I went there to investigate and I saw Mr. Quirkiny wailing while your Chimchar leaped from ledge to ledge, shooting flamethrower everywhere. I think it was quite scared and somehow – made its way into the house. Upon further investigation, I found that Mr. Quirkiny's paintings were all burnt to crisp," he grinned, "And his son finally challenged our family to a battle!"

I blinked in surprise.

"Why do you want him to challenge us?"

"Just wait and see."

With that, he took me by the arm and dragged me towards the town square.

The town square was in the middle of Halborough Town, host of the Halborough Town Contest. The town was a well-known fishing location and the Contest Stadium stood on stilts in the middle of the ocean. You had to get a boat to go there – and the boat lenders take it as a good chance to battle. We were going to Black Pebble beach. Although a beach, it was also part of the town square. The beach is littered with black pebbles and occasionally; Suicune is seen pacing the Scarborough stream leading to the ocean. We were going to the Crystal caves – a beautiful cave surrounded by glowing crystals. They were said to be sacred to Articuno when it came down from the mountains to protect the town from invading Gyrados. Articuno managed to drive them out but a couple of missed ice-beams hit the cave and formed tall crystals. Amazingly, they never melted.

"The majestic Crystal Caves will be the place for our battle!" my dad announced this with pride.

"Shhh!" I whispered, "It's sacred for a reason you know."

"Sorry." My dad whispered back.

He touched a finger to the nearest crystal. Immediately, it started glowing a soft, cold light. As the light spread to the crystals around it, they started glowing as well. Soon, the cave was brightly lit. On the other side of the cave, I saw the angry faces of and his son, Vevy.

"There you are!" Vevy shouted, "Your Chimchar has some nerve wrecking my dad's paintings like that, you know! And you're going to lose and be downgraded to level 0!"

I nudged my dad.

"What does he mean by level zero?"

"Err-

's voice cut him off.

"I cannot believe your _caring_ father didn't tell you. Each family in town has a level. Each level gets different priorities. Your family is on level 5." He pointed to my blue hair with purple streaks. "The familes in each level must always have an item of clothing on to match the level colours. In your case, your family dyed your hair. I doesn't really matter as long as people can identify your level." He gestured to himself and his son. "_We _are on level 6."

I looked at my dad imploringly.

"I still don't see what's so special about this level business."

But my dad already predicted that I'd ask this question. Typical fathers. He produced an aged, wrinkled scroll tied by a blood red ribbon from one of many pockets that lined his coat. He untied the ribbon and the scroll fell open. There was a list of colours and priorities. He pointed to the 5th line from the bottom.

"That's where we are."

Then, he moved his finger to the top of the scroll.

"That's where we want to go."

I stared at the scroll. It was all a bunch of mumble-jumble to me.

"Umm… so _why_ do we want to go to the top?"

My dad looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Because we get free food… lead our clan… become a gym leader… get more opportunities in job… (OK, it get's a little crazy from here on) take over the world… rule the universe…!"

Dad broke into a laugh, which soon became an evil cackle.

"We'll be rich!"

He was now dancing around the cave, waving his arms and legs about in a frenzy.

"Me! Rich!"

I ignored him and turned to the Quirkiny's.

"I don't know what's gotten into him…" I glanced at dad, "But the level business seems to mean a lot. So let's battle!"

Vevy sneered at me.

"Trust me, you'll go **down**."

I raised an eyebrow.

"I may be better than you think."

Vevy reached into his belt and produced a poke-ball.

"We'll just wait and see."

He threw the ball.

In a blaze of red light, the outline of a bulky figure with wings could be seen. In a flash, the light distinguished and revealed a Dragonite.

I immediately fell in love with it.

Shaking off my sudden dizziness, I took my poke-balls from my belt.

"Who should I choose…"

I probably would have stood there for ages trying painstakingly to decide but my father nudged me urgently.

"Stop delaying the battle like that," he hissed, "This is serious!"

"Oh, all right!" I snapped.

I closed my eyes and counted ring-a-ring-a-rosarade. My finger landed on the first Pokemon I caught. I gulped. The Pokemon tended to wander off more often than not.

Sighing, I threw the ball.

A rather fat Pokemon appeared.

"_Blissey_." It called. Blissey sighted a mound of flowers over on the edge of the cave. It let out a high pitched cry of delight and went over to investigate.

"Blissey! Come back here!"

Blissey ignored me.

Vevy burst out laughing.

"You seriously think you can beat my Dragonite with a Pokemon like _that_! Dragonite, teach the little rascal a lesson!"

The Dragonite flew over to where Blissey was still admiring the flowers.

"_Drag_!" It challenged.

Blissey ignored it.

"That stupid Blissey! How dare it!"

Vevy had enough.

"Dragonite, use dragon pulse!"

Dragonite reared up and a great ball of blue-green light gathered up in its jaws. With a mighty roar, Dragonite released the ball to strike Blissey.

"Oh no." I muttered.

But I didn't say that for Blissey. I've been in this situation before and Blissey will definitely think that Dragonite was attacking the _flowers_.

"Look out Dragonite." I said, smiling.

Indeed, Blissey put on a determined expression.

"_Blissey_!" Blissey cried and a great shimmering green wall surrounded the fat, pink and white Pokemon. Dragonite's attack bounced right off.

"Oh, man. A safeguard." I cried in triumph.

Vevy glared at me.

"It's not over yet."

Behind me, my dad shook my shoulder.

"Yes, what?" I asked.

"You're not supposed to be quarrelling, you're supposed to be battling!"

I looked at Vevy and found that his father was talking to him as well.

"Alright then. Hey, Vevy!" I called, "What say we finish this battle off!"

"Fine with me!" he called back.

My father and Vevy's father all stood at the sides.

"I'll be the referee!" they called in unison. Then each turned to glare at one another.

I groaned. "Why don't you just play water, grass, fire?"

The two nodded in agreement.

"Grass."

"Fire"

"Fine, you win." My father grumbled.

Vevy's father produced two flags from his belt.

"Begin!" he called, raising the flags.

Vevy made the first move. "Dragonite, dragon claw!"

Dragonite answered with a powerful dragon claw aimed at Blissey.

"Blissey dodge and use focus punch!"

At the last moment, Blissey leapt out of the way and the dragon claw went crashing into the ground.

"_Dragon_." Dragonite growled in frustration. But there was no time to waste as Blissey's hand started glowing a brilliant white. Quickly, Dragonite wrenched his claw out of the ground and shot into the air.

"_Blissey!_" Blissey grumbled and hopped up and down on the ground, unable to get enough lift.

"Dragonite, use dragon pulse!"

_Clever,_ I thought. _If Dragonite went to attack Blissey on the ground, my focus punch will easily hit._

Dragonite fired dragon pulse off.

"Blissey, dodge it!"

Blissey obeyed and dodged the torrent of dragon pulses.

"Keep on firing, Dragonite!" Vevy shouted.

Holes were now appearing on the floor of the cave. Suddenly, I noticed that a pool of water was gathering in a hole.

_Of course! There's a geyser here._

"Blissey, jump in that hole."

Blissey obeyed.

Dragonite started getting ready to fire another dragon pulse.

Any moment now…

Dragonite gathered more and more power.

Almost… now!

"Blissey! Focus punch!"

The water finally came out of the hole. With enormous force, it pushed Blissey up towards Dragonite.

Dragonite froze in surprise.

At the same time, Blissey crashed into Dragonite with its attack. The combined force of dragon pulse and focus punch smashed into Dragonite. With a howl, Dragonite fell 5 metres into the ground. If the force of the crash wasn't enough, Blissey's heavy weight landed on top of Dragonite ensuring an almost definite win.

"Blissey wins." Mr. Quirkiny said glumly.

As for my dad, he squeezed my and Blissey in a huge bear hug.

"We won! And we are finally in level 6 and they are in level 5! Yippee!"

"Cheat." Vevy hissed.

I felt 's eyes boring into the back of my neck. I turned. Somehow, Mr. Quirkiny's eyes seem brighter than before… I shook my head. It was just my imagination. Right?

* * *

Wrong.

The next morning, I felt a little queer. First, I was taken over by a overwhelming instinct to hop around all day. Right after that, I found that I _could_ hop all day – if I tried. Then, to my astonishment, I could talk to Blissey and understand it (I mean her). It was all very baffling. When I came downstairs, my father didn't even recognise me. This is what happened:

Me: Hi dad.

Dad: What's a Buneary doing here… and *gasp* it can talk!

Me: What are you talking about?

Dad: Me? Well, it's not every day you meet a talking Buneary.

Me: Um, dad?

Dad: Yes?

Me: I'm your daughter.

Dad: Gosh! What happened?

Me: I don't know, apart from this desire to hop around all day and being able to communicate with Blissey.

Dad: I bet it was that Mr. Quirkiny.

Me: What's up with _him_?

Dad: He was rumoured to have once turned a supposedly _rude_ schoolboy into a Rattata for some time. I guess a similar thing happened to you.

Me: But I don't want to spend the rest of my life as a Buneary!

Dad: Hang on a minute, I'll speak to my friend P.P.P.

Well, that was about it. Of course, I didn't think much about our friend P.P.P. Like, when has anybody useful has a name like that? They all have super cool names or last names like Einstein, Galileo and Churchill. But, 10 minutes later, I discovered just how useful P.P.P is.

To be Continued…


	2. Trainer Trouble

First, you have to know what P.P.P stands for. Generally, this:

**P**oleo's **P**erfect **P**oke-morphists

According to my dad, the way I've been transformed into a Buneary is an _ancient_ art of Poke-morph. It's basically a magician's thing. But, of course, no one knows much about it except for the Quirkiny family and they've been archrivals with our family for a long time. So, no getting the cure out of them.

Luckily, P.P.P has some good ideas like this disgusting flower you eat to turn you into human form for 24 hours. It seems that the only permanent cure apart from the Quirkiny's knowledge lies in this horrendously far place. Of course, my dad's anxious to get me back in human form so he can get me to go to the Grand Festival or the Hoenn League. Dad snatches up every chance to humiliate or beat the Quirkiny's at something. Personally, I find this a little annoying.

The morning after this morning, my dad said I'd set out. Apparently it wasn't true as we waited till the morning _after _that. My poor father insisted that we get maximum preparation, just in case any danger comes by. He gave me 7 of those disgusting flowers and told me to use them carefully.

Well, here I am, heading in Buneary form into a forest. Hopefully some stupid trainer won't come buy and catch me. Yesterday, I also explored my new attacks. Ha! That'll show those trainers whose boss! Icebeam!

It's probably a coincidence, but just as I was thinking that, a Pokemon trainer named Mat came by. And it just so happened that Mat thought I would be the perfect candidate for his team. So he threw his poke-ball silently and told his very vicious looking Eevee to silently creep up on me and attack me.

Of course, as always, I notice things a little too late. The Eevee crashed into me and sent me in a collision course with a rather nice tree. But Pokemon instincts are better than human ones so I managed to gather myself and rebound off the tree.

"_Eevee._"

That Eevee was smiling at me unnervingly. I hate this. Time to run away.

"_Bun, bun, bun…_" I said, counting each hop. (It's become a habit now.)

"Eevee, chase after that Buneary!"

That Eevee's trainer is a boy. I wonder if I should talk to him… no, he'll only think he's dreaming. Then _how_ can I stop him catching me?

"_Buneary…"_ I muttered. (It can be a little annoying unable to hear yourself thinking.)

"Eevee, use shadow ball!"

Yikes, it's that boy again! No choice, I have to fight.

I turned around to face Eevee. The boy and the Pokemon were metres behind and drawing closer. Soon, we were only 3 metres apart.

"Fire shadow ball!"

"_Eeeeveee!"_

A huge purple ball swimming with black shadows came hurtling towards me. I braced myself and bent my knees… then I jumped. The shadow ball crashed harmlessly into a tree while I was high up in the air. I whooped with joy. The feeling you get when you're weightless overcame my and I was filled with a sense of exhilaration. Then, it was over. The ground came rushing to meet me and I continued to battle.

_Icebeam time._ I thought.

I drew in bright white light and it gathered into a tight ball. I was ready to fire.

"Eevee, dodge!"

Eevee got ready to leap out of the way. I didn't care. I wasn't aiming for that brute anyway.

I fired.

The icebeam zigzagged towards Eevee… no. The icebeam _passed_ Eevee and struck a shocked Mat. Eevee could only look on as Mat got encased in a thick block of sparkling ice.

I hopped for joy and turned a somersault in midair – and landed flat on my back. When I looked up, Eevee was nuzzling the figure encased in the ice affectionately. It saw me looking and growled an angry challenge. I knew if I run away, Eevee would chase me anyway so I agreed.

Eevee started off with a headlong tackle. I grinned and countered with a dizzy punch. Eevee howled as it got thrown back into a tall rowan tree. But it immediately sprang back up and launched another attack. I laughed to myself. The Eevee was testing _my_ brilliant brain. How could I lose? I launched myself into a tackle attack but Eevee was ready. It gathered a huge shadow ball in its mouth and aimed it at the ground. The force lifted Eevee high in the air, over my astonished face. Eevee grinned, and a full-scale body slam hit me. The next thing I knew – my mind in darkness.

* * *

Slowly, I blinked open my eyes. For a moment, the world blurred around me – colours blending into colours until it became a bright whirlwind. But soon, the colours remembered where they belonged and sorted themselves out to become a clear dome. Outside the dome, I could see a road and when I turned around, trees. Somehow, the world was bouncing around. Then I realised what had happened. I had been captured.

_To be Continued…_


	3. Pokemon Orienteering

Luckily, the poke-ball adjusted to the exact temperature that I felt comfortable in. I gazed out at the world through the poke-ball. I had tried to escape of course, but there seemed no way. The dome was impenetrable. A sudden change of scenery made me look. A town was up ahead! I braced my hands against the dome eagerly. Maybe it was Halborough town. My dad will ask the Pokemon trainers who come by if they've caught a Buneary – if they have, he'll recognise me and set me free so I can continue my quest to find a cure.

But it was not to be.

The town we arrived in was not actually a town, but a small city. As I found out later, it was one of the bases of Team Rocket. But I didn't have that information now so I had no way of protecting my _trainer_. It was a fine day and the trainer was heading towards a Pokemon Centre. He talked awhile to a very pretty Nurse Joy then deposited me and the other Pokemon in a small crate. We were then carried on a tray to a large room. Once inside, a bright red laser scanned us while Nurse Joy studied our heartbeats and other conditions. I saw her frown when it was Swampert's turn. It was taken to another room. After a while, it came back and was feeling much better. She smiled at us and talked to us for some time, then took us to the Pokemon playground. I remembered the times when I gazed out upon all the Pokemon there and wished… wished that I could live as cheerfully and carefree as them. Now I could experience it. I laughed among the others as we sprang into a small pool. We played skipping with Chikorita's vine whip and practiced our battle moves. Finally, when the sun no longer flew proudly in the sky, Mat arrived to collect us and we were returned to our poke-balls. Face flushed and excited, I slept dreamlessly.

The next day, I was with Mat in front of a tall, domed building. I felt around for my flowers and bit back a sigh of relief. They were still there. Mat marched purposefully towards the entrance with me trailing along behind him. I caught sight of a large sign on the clear, glass door.

"_Buneary?"_ I asked myself quizzically. I heard Mat's reassuring voice beside me.

"It's OK Buneary, it's only a Pokemon Orienteering competition."

I sighed. How will I _ever_ find a cure?

We walked briskly up to the registration desk and found we were competing for a medal, and fruit.

_Fine with me._ I thought. _This could be fun!_

Once Mat registered, we were guided to a large, fenced area where thousands of trainers have already gathered. The noise of trainer and Pokemon was deafening. A man walked up in front of the crowd and the clamber stopped.

The man coughed and addressed the crowd in front of him.

"Good morning fellow trainers. Welcome to the new and improved Pokemon Orienteering competition. You have each been given a map and a compass. As you can see, there are 7 checkpoints marked out on the map. At each checkpoint, there is a BEEPER. Scan your map on the BEEPER to continue. The competition will last the whole day and remember, you can use your Pokemon's abilities to guide you. Whichever team has all their checkpoints scanned first wins! Remember…"

The man held up a shimmering golden medal with a beautiful ruby red ribbon attached.

"Remember… you will be playing for this coveted Pokemon teamwork medal with 19 carat gold! As a special bonus, a small sample of Croudent town's rare and delicious fruit! Now… begin!!!"

Mat turned to me.

"Let's show them who's a real team Buneary!"

"_Buneary!"_

We raced through the starting point, Mat leading. He studied the map carefully while we ran (or hopped). Mat raised his eyes from the map.

"We'll go to the Ice Fortress first." He announced.

"_Bun!"_

The road to the Ice Fortress was short, but exhausting. After a few meters of heavy running (hopping), we came to a wide lake. I grimaced. The lake was deep, and full of Carvona too! The shark Pokemon danced and weaved through the water, their sharp jaws just waiting for their prey. No sense in swimming.

"Buneary… use your ice beam to build a bridge."

"_Bun."_

Trust trainers to come up with crazy ideas like that. No matter. I fired the ice beam, freezing the water to form a narrow bridge with a smooth, slippery surface. Mat held my hand tightly.

"Be careful, all right. The ice is very slippery."

Slowly, step-by-step, we crept across the bridge. The Carvona tensed, seething as their lunch got away. Finally, we reached the other side. Mat held back a gasp as I looked up. The Ice Fortress was amazing! A huge structure made of glass with a pure ice top. When you looked up, you can see a flurry of dancing colours light up the sky. Silently, we tiptoed in, feet making tinkling sounds on the delicate glass floor. We reached a small white machine attached to an ice statue. If not for the red light that emanated from it every 3 seconds, we would never have found it. Mat passed the map under the scanner and it was done. A pink Luvdisc appeared on our location.

"Well, that's that. Time to go to the Edge Maze."

"_Buneary."_

_

* * *

  
_

When it was 3pm, we were on to the last checkpoint – the Crumbling Cliff. The map warned us not to stray too close to the edge in fear of falling. We took in that news with a shiver. These days, Mat and I had grown quite close to each other. I used my superb memory to guide us out of the Edge Maze and Mat saved me from a herd of Tauros when we were on our way to the Breezy Plains. It would be terrible if the final challenge conquered us!

The two of us walked on a rough, sandy track when we came to a huge tree standing tall and majestic in front of us. Carefully, we scrambled over protruding roots and branches. More than once we found a tall wall of tangled underbrush blocking our way. I had to use ice beam, then dizzy punch to clear them. When we finally broke through, sweat beaded our foreheads and our breath was ragged and uneven. Mat collapsed on the ground.

"I can't take it any longer…" he gasped.

I looked at him pityingly then spotted something up ahead – the Crumbling Cliff.

Hurriedly, I pointed this out to Mat. Mat sighted this at once and his eyes lit up. Immediately he jumped to his feet.

"Let's do this!" he cried, a blazing fire of determination in his eyes.

"_Bun Bun!"_

Together, we raced towards the Crumbling Cliffs, unaware that a hidden pair of eyes was watching…

_To be Continued…_


	4. Discovery

The Crumbling Cliff was a huge rocky outcrop looking out over a sparkling blue ocean. A pile of dust and rocks perched precariously over the edge and occasionally, a few rocks would fall into the ocean with a splash. Mat and I gazed out at the view with admiration.

"It's so beautiful… and refreshing." Mat breathed.

"_Bun bun!_" I agreed.

Suddenly, my ears picked up movement behind some bushes.

"_Buneary?"_ I asked, turning around.

"What's wrong Bunear- argghh!"

A small net falling around me cut off Mat's voice. I struggled helplessly inside, wishing I had my Meganium with me to cut through the net. But it was no good. I had just got myself tangled even more.

"_Buneary! Bun!" _I cried.

"I'll save you!" Mat shouted and launched himself at the clasps securing the net to the ground.

"Oh no you won't." A high, indignant voice rang out.

Mat's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

An aqua haired teenage girl jumped out from behind a big clump of bushes.

"Once Pokemon Ranger, now P.P.P!"

_Oh, goody! _I thought. _It's Poleo's Perfect Poke-morphists!_

"_Bun! Bun bun!"_ I jumped up and down in the air excitedly.

Mat looked bemused.

"What's P.P.P?"

The girl answered in the same tone of voice.

"Perfect Pokemon Poacher."

I immediately stopped celebrating.

"A _Pokemon Poacher?"_

"Yes," the girl lunged at me and stood up, clapping her hand over my mouth. I struggled in vain but she was too strong. "Bye bye Matty boy…" She said and ran off with me… over the cliff!

"Buneary!" Mat cried and followed suit.

The girl smirked at him and a small pack she was carrying opened up, to form a red and black glider.

I watched helplessly as shrieking, Mat fell.

"_Bun bun!"_ I cried, kicking and punching the girl. But it was no good. Suddenly, I had an idea. I reached into my ear and pulled out one of the flowers that P.P.P (Poleo's Perfect Poke-morphists) gave me. I crammed the flower in my mouth and chewed frantically. Without realising it, I was glowing with a harsh white light. The girl cried out in pain as the light stung her eyes. Soon, she was holding a 12 year old girl instead of a Buneary. I grinned.

"See ya!" I said and pushed her off the glider. Screaming, the Pokemon Poacher fell into the ocean, hundreds of kilometres below. But my moment of triumph was short lived. Quickly, I made the glider change direction and plunged vertically down, hoping to find Mat.

I let out a sigh of relief. He was clinging on to a small branch but even as I dived, the branch slowly edged its way free.

"No!" I cried and sped downwards even faster than before. Finally, the branch snapped but I was just in time! I made a grab for Mat's hand and held it tightly, as well as trying to get the glider under control as well. Unfortunately, I didn't but luckily, the glider still slowed our descent enough so we hit the sea gently.

Mat spluttered and gasped as we went under the surface, only to swallow water. Grimacing, I swam up, breaking the surface, hurriedly sucking breath after breath of cool, sweet air into my lungs. I turned and saw Mat doing the same. The water was wild and angry so it took all our strength just to keep our heads above the surface. Closing my eyes to the stinging spray, I swam clumsily to what I believed to be land. For what seemed hours but only minutes I swam, often going under and struggling for breath, dragging a limp Mat along. Finally, we collapsed on a sandy beach.

Dazed, I pushed myself up into a sitting position, heaving on my chest to relieve myself of the last of the water. Grimacing, I did the same to Mat. I saw Mat's face turned green and stifled a giggle as a torrent of bitter seawater poured out of his mouth. Mat seemed to have recovered his senses. In a flash, he jumped up, head swinging around in a wide circle, searching desperately for something – or someone.

"Buneary!" he called.

"_Buneary… buneary… eary…"_ His voice bounced around the grey, stone cliffs that rose up around us.

I sighed. "Buneary's here… maybe closer than you think."

Mat frowned at me. "What do you mean?"

I pointed at myself, "I'm Buneary."

At this, Mat hooted with laughter, than deliberately stopped as he actually fully noticed I was there.

"You mean… _Poke-morph???_" He said in an awed voice.

"Yeah," I replied grimly. "I got transformed into a Buneary after a person named decided that he didn't like me beating his son. My dad found an organisation called Poleo's Perfect Poke-morphists (P.P.P) and they concluded that the only way to turn people back permanently is to…" I hesitated, unsure of whether to trust Mat with the secret that P.P.P had kept for centuries. I saw Mat's eyes blink wide open.

"And?" he breathed.

I gulped. No way was I going to tell him.

"Well, then you came along and caught me so end of that story."

Mat's face fell with disappointment.

I said quickly, "But I guess you _could _come along…"

Mat lit up again.

"Of course, first…" I glanced at the smooth stone cliffs.

Mat grinned, "Those cliffs aren't a problem. I've got a Staraptor that'll easily get us up… but it can't really carry us both so…" Mat looked at my midnight blue leather belt and the poke-balls attached to it. I caught his gazed and sighed.

"All right, all right." I grumbled and took out one of my poke-balls. "Go Kirlia!" I called and threw the ball. In a blaze of red light, a beautiful psychic Pokemon appeared. At the same moment, Mat threw his and a mighty Staraptor with a huge wingspan came out.

"Time to go!" He called and jumped onto Staraptor, "Race you to the top!"

Staraptor beat its mighty wings in several powerful strokes and took off into the air with a screeching cry.

"Now our turn." I said to Kirlia.

"_Kirlia."_

"Kirlia, use psychic."

Kirlia's eyes started glowing a warm, blue light. The light surrounded me and gently lifted me up easily to the top. I waved at Mat when I got to him and pulled a face. Mat scowled and whispered to Staraptor to go faster. Staraptor gathered speed but it couldn't compare with Kirlia's psychic. Kirlia deposited me carefully on the ground while I fetched another poke-ball.

"Infernape, let's go!"

I threw the ball and a powerful fire, monkey Pokemon appeared by my side. Infernape was the first Pokemon I was partnered with and was immensely strong.

"Use rock tomb!"

Infernape started concentrating on the ground beneath Kirlia. The floor rumbled, groaning. Suddenly, a huge pillar of rock shot out from beneath Kirlia. Maintaining its balance, Kirlia rode the rock up to the top – just seconds before Mat came up on Staraptor.

Mat smiled wearily at me as we returned our Pokemon back to our poke-balls.

"Clever. You'll be great in a Contest."

I blushed. "Thanks."

I looked at the darkening sky, shadowed by a faint moon in the horizon.

"Let's get going, before we get stranded in the dark."

Mat nodded.

"Right."

Together, we ran off into the path that leads away from Croudent town… leads away from Pokemon Orienteering… leads away from a safe sanctuary… leads to Violet City.

_To be Continued…_


	5. Violet City or not?

Violet City. Legend tells of a city paved with rich, purple crystals lined by trees blossoming with delicate silver flowers. Flecks of gold adorned every home and a luscious garden surrounded the property. It also tells of the sunshine and how it glows soft and warm. Plus the moon rays, which slant sharply onto ponds and sparkles on the clear pavement. Of course, legend is legend and Violet City wasn't like that at all. In fact, it was the exact opposite. The houses were poor and rugged. The people dressed in rags and the Pokemon wandered around dully, scavenging desperately for food. As soon as the people saw Mat and I, me riding on his shoulder as a Buneary, they crowded around, begging for supplies and shouting out their wares for sale. One hungry man even offered up his starving and dirty Eevee who barely glanced up at us before closing its eyes feebly.

"What's up with those stories of Violet City, then?" I whispered to Mat.

Mat pushed my fluffy ear away. "I don't know. It's certainly less than I expected."

Hurriedly, we refused the pleading glances and the hands reaching out towards us to make our way back into the forest. Using ice beam, I enclosed an area where Mat and I could talk without being eavesdropped on. The people banged on the wall and cried out but we ignored them.

"So what do we do now?" I asked Mat.

The boy looked at me. "You're the one that wanted to go here!"

"Yes but I was supposed to look for 'the city that was rich in gems, has a bright moon, soft sun under it ragged souls.'" I recited.

"Anything else?"

I searched my memory desperately… there seemed to be nothing in reference of where I was meant to go… No. I mustn't give up. I need to get back to human form. A small sliver of memory suddenly appeared. I made a grab for it and I was immersed in the moment.

_5 years ago…_

I was sitting on my father's lap while he read the story about the Mystery of Eevee. It told of a rare but weak Pokemon – Eeve, who did a great deed in service of the good forces. The leader, a moon maiden whose hair was the colour of moonlight on a spider web and it was said her dress was weaved of the rays of the moon took Eevee to Violet City. At this time, the city was a poor place. People feared each other and scavenged food from the rubbish bins. But when the moon maidens came, all the ill wishes and dark forces were wiped off the city and it glinted with wealth. The people suddenly found themselves eating lavish dishes with rich gravy while the moon maidens moved on. They erected a marble statue in the centre of the city and placed 3 special stones around the bottom. They also cast off a piece of the sacred ice gem and a piece of the original mother earth into the world. As well as that, the moon maidens placed a speck of darkness and a speck of intuition into some people's heart. For each one, Eevee would become one of the most sought after Pokemon – being able to evolve into Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Glaceon, Leafeon, Umbreon, and Espeon. With that, they left.

But soon after, a great war of the two forces ensued and the Dark won – for a while. When they saw the brilliance of Violet City, a terrible rage befell the leader. He tried to command the sea to sink the city – but the water stone prevented it. He tried to call on the Earth to swallow it up – but the piece of Mother Earth stood strong. He tried to engulf it in fire, fry it with electricity, trap it in a tomb of ice, suspend it in time, shroud in a cloak of darkness… but each time, the things that the moon maidens cast out prevented him. But it was still possible to destroy the city. He called on a massive tornado that no one could stop and it almost engulfed the city. But no. Bravely, the Eevee sacrificed themselves to send the city out of Time – where no Earthly forces could harm it and Violet City was saved. And no one could find the city again…

Suddenly, I had another flashback.

I was sitting at the table talking with P.P.P. The representative said 'You must go to the original Violet City – the one that no light falls upon. The one that is trapped. The song of the Chosen can help you.'

Gasping, I slipped back into the present.

I knew what I had to do.

_To be Continued…_


	6. Song of the Chosen

The tower loomed over us, tall and menacing. From a distance, you could see nothing at all except an over-sized tree with twisted and gnarled roots. When you examine it closer, the illusion falls away and you see a beautiful crystal tower with unblemished sides and smooth walls. The tower is cone shaped and ends with a silver tipped point that glows with a bright, golden light. Multicoloured rings circled the tower, hovering around it, constantly moving. It made it look dark and unearthly. No door led into the tower – that was my job.

"Are you sure about this?" Mat murmured, looking in disbelief at the sight before our eyes.

"Yes," I said firmly, "It's the only way for me to transform back into human and for you to be an apprentice to a master of poke-morph."

Just before we left, Mat confessed to me his life long dream – to become master of evolution and poke-morph. I told him it was pretty much the same thing; evolution changes the Pokemon, poke-morph changes the human.

I flicked back my mind and recalled how to get into the tower. Immediately, all that I needed to do filled my head and I opened my mouth to sing.

The notes flowed out of my tongue like water and the world suddenly seemed still. All that mattered was the song. Colours folded over colours as the song wrapped layer after layer on the tower. The enchanted music filled my ears and I saw Mat listening, being absorbed in the sheer uniqueness and richness of the music. I sang on and the sound produced scenes like a sandy beach, hugged by sunshine with the waves lapping gently on the shore. I sang of the sky, with the majestic Ho-oh watching over the entire activity of the people on Earth. I sang of the lush green fields and the cool refreshing breeze blowing over them. I sang of the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tropical plants of the rainforest. I sang of a waterfall, tumbling down to the pool below with a deafening roar. Suddenly, my voice pitched and dropped in a sad tone as I sang about the sufferings of the poor people of Violet City. I saw tears in Mat's eyes and my own vision became blurry as I too, was enraptured in the beauty of the song. Finally, I sang about the legend of Violet City and as I did so, a harsh light enveloped the tower. Still I sang on of the great battle and what happened then. The light grew brighter and I was blinded. But I continued, singing of the sacrifice of the Eevee's and how the city got sent out of time. Then, my voice dropped, my vision cleared and we were at the legendary Violet City.

_To be Continued..._


	7. Destiny

The first thing I knew was swallowing water instead of air. Mat was beside me having a similar reaction. Holding my breath, I swam up towards the sunlight. Soon, I burst out of the water, Mat following.

"Ugh." I said, removing the waterweed from my clothes while treading water… Wait… my _clothes???_ I grinned. I was back in human form.

Mat and I staggered up the bank and plonked down on the ground. We saw we had just got out of a notoriously calm pool glistening with the scales of some quite fast fish.

"Well…" Mat mused, "I never actually thought of Violet City being a national park or anything."

"It's not," I said, pointing over a small hill, "You can see the city there."

Mat frowned. "Not really. It's partly shrouded by fog."

I shrugged. "Then let's take a closer look."

A sickly sweet scent hung around us. It was coming from some wine red flowers with large petals. As I watched, an insect landed on a petal – attracted by the smell. Immediately, the petals snapped shut. A horrible grinding noise was heard and the petals opened again. The insect was nowhere to be seen. I shuddered. Violet City may be legendary… but it's sure not without dangers.

Mat and I continued up the hill, being careful to avoid the flowers whenever possible. If we had to, we caught a live bug and tossed it onto the flower. When the petals shut, we crept forward. Finally, the two of us reached the edge of Violet City.

"Uh… let's go then." I muttered, my hands shaking.

We crossed the boundary line.

The city was _huge_.

And crazy.

Tall skyscrapers grew out of the ground while being in the midst of a garden from medieval times. Small cottages sat alone on a huge robot. People hustled and bustled this way and that, each wearing different clothes from different times. Mat gasped as a genetically modified man with Charizard wings flew by. Hesitantly, I stopped a 19th century woman walking a Snubull.

"Yes dear?" she asked impatiently.

"Er… do you know where the poke-morph master lives?"

The woman stared at me.

"Why, there's no such thing as poke-morph."

I returned to Mat.

"I can't believe it!" I exploded, "These people don't know a thing about poke-morph!!!"

Mat smiled. "I don't believe you."

The young trainer stopped a man with roses in place of his hands.

"Do you know poke-morph?"

The man grinned, showing his crooked teeth.

"Of course! And if you're looking for the poke-morph master, don't bother. He's dead like 500 years ago. I'm just glad I made my way here 'cause the pollution back home is unbearable."

With that, he flounced off.

Mat came back, confused.

"I don't understand. The woman said the poke-morph master didn't exist which means poke-morph wasn't discovered yet and the man talked about poke-morph like it was completely normal."

"Um… Mat?"

"Yes?"

"I think these people all come from different times." I gestured to the mixed up buildings and strange assortments of people. "Which means there's someone controlling all this. We just have to find that person and ask them to get the poke-morph master to Violet City."

At that moment, a small, dwarf like man, face shrouded in a dark cloak interrupted.

"I hear you mention poke-morph master. I can take you to him."

I glanced at Mat. I didn't trust people in dark cloaks and I _certainly_ didn't trust _small _people in dark cloaks.

Mat nodded. I sighed.

"All right. Lead on."

* * *

The man led us out of the city and into a murky swamp. We stopped at the edge while the man seemed to glide effortlessly over the top. He beckoned to us and we followed. I screamed as I was immediately sucked down. Mat yelped and hurried to pull me out. But the mud was too strong. I sucked me in and Mat followed helplessly, still grabbing onto my arm.

"Who are you?!" I shouted to the man.

The man smiled. But it was an evil smile, not a friendly one. He thrust back his cloak.

I gaped at him. I noticed Mat shifted uncomfortably as well in the mud. For emblazoned on his chest was a big, red 'R'.

"Team Rocket." I hissed, struggling to stay on top of the mud.

"Yes." He glided over to me. "Now hand over your Pokemon."

"Why mine?" I cried.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Don't you know?"

"No"

The man sighed and his eyes drifted towards the setting sun. In a soft voice he recounted the story of the Eevees. But he added an extra part that I had never heard before.

"Afterwards, Violet City became the sanctuary for people lost in time. But soon, it got too full. Pollution ruined the fresh air and mobs competed for food. The levels were developed and the high & mighty became bossy and snobbish. When that happened, a special group of Pokemon chose a human trainer to lead them. Those Pokemon were the strongest in all the lands." His eyes stared at my poke-balls. "The Pokemon were Kirlia, Blissey, Infernape, Mightyena, Delcatty and Ho-oh. The legendary submitted to the program while the others refused to be placed under the commands of a human."

I stifled a gasp. The team rocket guy had just recounted my entire battle team. I fingered a whistle that hung around my neck. It was a whistle with all the colours of fire. Inside the whistle was a beautiful red, orange, green and gold feather. My mother once told me that it was passed on to each girl in the family that had 'the gift'. She told me to only blow it at the time of desperate need.

"And?" I asked.

"Ho-oh called on the help of Palkia to open a portal in time. But at that time, Palkia was a newborn and still quite weak. It took all of the Pokemons power to open the portal for a short time. But that wasn't enough; at least, until the trainer came in.

The human was filled with such determination to keep the portals power that the portal remains to this day – at the cost of his life. At that time, Ho-oh had a vision. Violet City would be cluttered once again and the human would be needed. So, to protect the portal, Ho-oh shed a feather and threw it on one corner of the city. Infernape cut off a piece of its fur and threw it in another corner. Delcatty shed a tear and threw it in a corner. Mightyena picked out a tooth and placed it on another corner. Finally, Blissey used egg bomb while Kirlia used safeguard to build a great mound in the middle of the city – protecting Eevee's stones. The legend proclaims that whoever gathers all the sacrifices with the help of the right Pokemon; they will have infinite power. Enough to uncover the portal."

The man's eyes gleamed. He reached towards me. "So give me the Pokemon!"

"Never!" I cried.

The man glided towards me and tried to wrench the poke-balls from my belt. I struggled madly and sank even further. My breath came in short, ragged bursts as my head finally disappeared under the surface.

"No!" I heard Mat shout.

I closed my eyes and waited for death to come. But it didn't. Instead, strange tingling feelings spread down my spine. Then, I felt a pair of strong claws gripping my shoulder. A heavy beat of wings accompanied them and I was pulled out of the mud. I looked at the bright underside of a huge bird Pokemon.

"Ho-oh…" I whispered.

On Ho-oh's back was Mat and far beneath us, the Team Rocket person howled in rage. With a caw, Ho-oh soared higher in the sky. I was free – just for a moment. But another quest now awaits Mat and me.

I grinned.

I'll take it on, no matter what happens!

_To be Continued in Poke-morph: The Boat of Fire_


End file.
